Top Ten Tech Tools (Spring 2011)

It's been almost three years since I first blogged my Top Ten Tech Tools, and plenty has changed. Consistent with my earlier ramblings about 2011 being The Year of the Cloud, I'm finding that more and more of the tools I'm using, are accessible from any computer or smart phone. Here then, my 'revised' top ten tech tools for 2011:


Gmail
I've had a Gmail account since June of 2004, and even though those in the younger generation tend to prefer short instant communication, this tool is the hub of my e-office. A few of the reasons I love the service: I can leverage customized filters for incoming mail; I can link documents to calendar events or to do lists; I can instantly convert attachments to Google Docs; I can search content I've sent or received using Google's highly efficient search tool. What's not to like?

Google Docs
Whether publishing surveys and forms, or collaboratively creating text-based documents, I love the fact that Google makes my work is available from any device. With a click of the sharing button, any folder or document can become the basis of a team project.

Twitter/Tweetdeck
In the past three to four years, Twitter has proven itself to be the best way for me to keep in touch with distant members of my learning community. Among several aggregators of content, I still gravitate towards Tweetdeck. Leveraging groups, search tools, url-shortening, photo uploads and more, this app has proven to be the best way for me to sort 'nearly live' news, learning, and social communications.

Diigo/Delicious
I'm posting 'the good stuff' I stumble across in both places. Although Google is sometimes quicker at finding anything I archive, Clever App still grabs the feed to this content, so social bookmarking remains the best way to share my findings.


DropBox
Sharing files with myself or with colleagues, this tool allows me to do it with ease, from any device. Now that tools like Drop-it-to-Me and JotForm allow web-based uploads to my folders, DropBox is also a sensible file collection solution.


Skype
As I continue to work on projects with colleagues who are in other provinces and countries, Skype has become our go-to tool for collaborative meetings. With participants opening relevant shared Google docs in their browser of choice, we can co-develop solutions, or use free A/V to deepen social connections. With the recent launch of Skype in the Classroom, at least 9000 educators from around the world agree this is a valuable networking tool.


Evernote
I made the leap to a premium account to teach students how modern tools can replace paper notebooks. Accessing the work from any computer or smart phone, users can upload and tag audio, text, photo, video or document files; and can and share web-based files or folders with colleagues.


Flickr
One of the cloud services I use that am happy to pay for, Flickr works in partnership with iPhoto, allowing me to share and back-up photos and videos. What's more, Flickr is home to a growing legion of photographers making their work available for use, remixing, and sharing via Creative Commons.


Keynote
One of the few tools I use that only resides on my computer, Keynote remains my presentation tool of choice. Untethered, I control this tool with Keynote Remote on my iPhone. In order to share content I produce on Keynote, I host my presentations at Slideshare.

Creative Commons
This tool is as much a state-of-mind as it is a tech tool, and I'm including it on my list for the first time. If CC is new to you, it would be well worth your time to visit Creative Commons: What Every Educator Needs to Know.

Top Ten Tech Tools (Summer 2008)

Recently, Jane Hart of the Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies asked me to reflect on my top ten learning technologies, and while I've made sustained use of many tools from my original list (January 7, 2008), a number of new tools have cracked my Top 10. As we head into a new school year, my revised list now includes:

1. ScreenSteps: This is superior and simple to use tutorial creation utility. Great for creating software 'how to' documents as either PDFs or HTML pages.

2. ScreenFlow: Optimized for OS 10.5, this is the most polished screen grab utility on the market today. It's the best tool out there for creating engaging software demos and tutorials.

3. G-Mail: Simple, reliable, sortable, with effective filters (including spam filters) and plenty of room for large files and archives. The included writing tools and survey tools form a significant part of my 'cloud office'.

4. Google Reader: The Google franchise provides a common look/feel for my daily work. It helps that Google makes it simple for me to export/embed my RSS collections.

5. Blogger: I'm here many times a week, as this tool resulted in the genesis of www.thecleversheep.com

6. Twitter: Along with tools like Twhirl, and Twitterific, I leverage this tool to keep in touch with colleagues near and far. There is no other tool that provides as many links to rich content and ideas.

7. Garageband: Since January, I've been producing the Teacher 2.0 Podcast 3-4 times each week using this iLife app. Simple to use, it is a powerful creativity app.

8. Flickr's Creative Commons: I regularly use licensed photos from photographers around the world in my creative work.

9. Adobe Connect: This tool and it's online cousin Adobe ConnectNow continue to allow me to engage in meetings with geographically scattered colleagues, as both host and participant.

10. Keynote: Oooh-la-la! Stunning graphics, transitions and exports to clickable movie files, what more could you ask for in presentation software?

Check out the newly released Top Ten Tech Tools podcast on Teacher 2.0 for more details on these top ten learning technologies.

Photo Credit: David Guzikowski

7 Great Ways to Get Things Done!

If you are a fan of David Allen's book "Getting Things Done", you're sure to appreciate this list...

1] Get it out of your head! Write it down, either on paper; send yourself an email; or by use a productivity app like Do It or Easy Task Manager to manage your to do's.

2] Stop Wasting Time Organizing Email! Search tools can be used to find anything you really need. I followed Merlin Mann's advice a year ago, and it's made all the difference. Most email can probably be deleted, but for what you can make effective use of one big 'ARCHIVE' folder for email you think you may have to reference one day.

3] Organize your To Do lists by Context! If you know that specific tasks can be done from certain places; at specific times; or when specific tools are at hand, it makes sense to have your to do lists organized by such contexts. My contexts include 1] while running errands in the city; 2] at the computer; 3] on the telephone; 4] around the house...

4] Prevent Interuptions! Twitter is a great way to keep in contact with your PLN, but if you have this app set to chime or scroll with every new post; or if your email dings or otherwise alerts you to incoming mail, you are not getting as much accomplished as you otherwise might. Turn off such alerts, and 'check in' with your mail and your PLN at a few specific times each day.

5] Just Do It! Stop procrastinating and just get started... it's the hardest part. Once you are rolling, any task can generate a 'flow' experience.

6] Break down large projects into Action-able chunks! Planning a conference can be overwhelming, but you can select a date or book a venue. Preparing a meal is a bit vague, why not decide on a menu then go out and buy the food. Building a shed can be an onerous project, but to make progress, you can specify a location or decide on a design. Decide on specific doable actions to get the ball rolling.

7] Get up and Get On with it! If you find the busy-ness of the day a challenge, find a way to get a jump on your day and become an early riser. By leveraging the morning, I'm able to read, to blog, and even to create the occasional podcast... like this one on "Getting Things Done".


Photo Credit: mz_0x90

ScreenSteps Review

As a user of many different types of applications, I've discovered many time-savers in the past dozen years or so.  The newest member of my toolkit allows me to create shareable documents that would take 2-5 times as long to create in a simple word processor.

ScreenSteps by Blue Mango Learning Systems has made great strides in a short time! Not enough people know about this niche tool for creating tutorials that can be published as PDF docs, or as HTML pages, so I'm going to provide you with a window into the latest version of this application, released at the recent MacWorld Conference.  If you create software tutorials, 'how to' documents, or technical manuals, the latest version is well worth a test drive.

How it Works

Users take screen captures (or other images) and combine them with text to create multi-step documents.  Each step consists of one title, one image, and one block of text.  The layout is straightforward with a few simple commands and an intuitive interface.  The best way to get your head around how the tool works is to watch this screencast.

Great Adaptations

• Editing the images right within the document (adding numbers, arrows, highlights...), is a great little time-saver.  Although I didn't mind the separate window that was used to add these touches in version one, the automatically adapting graphic menu is a treat.  Simply click on an image to see the menu of visual elements that can be added to any screen grab.

• A library of documents now means that all images and related text are just a click away.  In version one, tutorials were saved as separate files, each with its own companion images folders.  Since I was familiar with this organizational format from my web design days, I could manage it, but it is far easier to manage with everything neatly packed within a single program file.

• The importing of other ScreenSteps documents was seemless!

• Searching document is vastly improved with a keyword search window, and the opportunity to attach and search by keyword tags.

• Documents have a common look and feel with chapter markers automatically created any time you title a subsection.  The default layouts are crisp and easy to read.

Notes for the Development Team

There are a few characteristics that can be modified to make this an even more useful tool:

1] When you click on a library item, you don't get any feedback to tell you that the document is 'opening' and will soon be ready for edit.  Because the files contain multiple screen grabs, I can understand that they take a few seconds to open on screen, but there should be some way for the user to know a] that they have clicked on the file (a small click sound?); and b] that the file is opening (a 'document loading' message?).

2] Creating a new document by using one from the library as a template should be more easily accomplished.  As it stands I've had to copy multiple steps to new documents, but it would be far easier to create custom documents for unique audiences if I could simply save older work under new names.

3] I was surprised that I was only able to access one template when printing to PDF.  With a few colours available when exporting to HTML, it shouldn't be difficult to create a few new document templates. 


ScreenSteps is an easy-to-use tool that has no true competition.  It has only been around a short while, but it is already a tool that I've already identified as one of my top ten tech tools. If you teach, and your time is nearly as valuable as mine, you're sure to find that the productivity gains made possible through the use of this tool make it well worth the price. (Academic pricing starts under $32 CDN).

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